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Basic
story: Christian (McGregor), a young writer, moves to
Paris to become a part of the Bohemian revolution. He gets
his wish when he meets Tolouse-Loutrec (Leguizamo) and falls in
love with the star of the Moulin Rouge's can-can show, Satine
(Kidman). There is, of course, an evil duke (Roxburgh)
vying for Satine's affections, using his money to fund
Christian's show as leverage.
Baz
Luhrmann does the pop music mixed with long-ago thing in a much
more satisfying way than other recent films (eg, "A
Knight's Tale"). I think it works for him here,
as it did in his "William Shakespeare's Romeo and
Juliet," because he creates a whole new world, where
anything goes and everything is beautiful. His style works
for me. This film is gorgeous and shiny and I just want to
touch it. I don't need to hold onto it forever, but its
flavor, and its scent are irresistible to me. As Satine sings,
"Diamonds are a girl's best friend." Luhrmann is
banking on it, and I gladly paid.
There
is no doubt some historical revisionism is going on here.
However, whatever this film invents about its surroundings is acceptable because of the film's existence as something
inherently new, giving thanks to the past, giggling about pop
culture, but existing very much in its own space.
Lurhmann's lenses are multi-speckled, kaleidoscope-like, and
colorful. Let them filter your view for two hours and you
will enjoy this film.
The
performances are impressive overall, but I always do like Ewan
McGregor -- even in that movie about a marching band.
If I had never seen John Leguizamo before, I still probably
wouldn't have believed that he was a midget -- but that's good
because I found out this morning that Tolouse-Loutrec (who I
know mainly from his famous posters, four or five prints of
which are hanging on my staircase) was not actually a midget; he
just had stunted legs. Leguizamo is funny, and he's far
from being the only funny thing in this film; the whole
first half is full of good laughs.
The
romance is predictable, as most (all?) movie romances are.
I didn't feel anything for it, but I enjoyed watching it play
out. There are some real cornball lines toward the end,
but I think that was intentional, fitting in with all of the
cheesy sentiments throughout. There was a point to it:
Although silly love things seem fluffy and cliché, we need
them. We all need them. And this movie gives us what
we need.
-- Liz
( 3 out of 4 pops )
Talk
about this film with other Popkorn Junkies |
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Other Junkie's
opinions.....
James ( 4 out of 4 pops )
The story was great, the
acting was great, and the music was great. I loved how it created
a new dimension to each of the songs. I know I will never be able
to listen to 'Like a Virgin' or 'Roxanne' the same way again.
The
use of color was well used, and that goes to the editor as well as
Baz Luhrman. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for?
Patsy ( 4 pops out of 4 )
Wow. That's pretty
much sums up my "Moulin Rouge" experience,
"wow". I absolutely LOVE this movie and I totally
agree with all of James's comments. I heard a rumor that,
since "Moulin Rouge" is a musical, people are thinking
of putting a version of it on Broadway. If that's
true, it sure would be a sight to see....it truly would be
"Spectacular, Spectacular!" Nevertheless, I'm
buying the soundtrack and the DVD because I LOVE this movie! :)
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